There's a bottom line with data recovery software: Does it get your data back or not? If it's on a FAT or NTFS partition--as it will be on any Windows PC--then the odds are that HDD Recovery Pro ($140, free demo) will recover it.

HDD Recovery Pro's interface is clean and attractive, though it sometimes mistakes simple for easy. All that is required is to select a drive or partition, the file system (rule of thumb: Windows 9x = FAT, XP and later = NTFS), then click Search. The program will search the drive and come back with a list of the files that it finds. The demo version will only preview files, but the company guarantees that if you can see them, the full version of the program will recover them. Logical enough.

In my brief test spin with HDD Recovery Pro, the program performed flawlessly. It found and recovered files from new and deleted partitions, including all the files that seem to confuse freebies such as Recuva and cheapies such as Ashampoo Undeleter. It also found a lot of stuff that the average user won't recognize, so be careful when you browse the files and even more careful if you delete any.

My only issue with HDD Recovery Pro is the price. $140, despite being considerably cheaper than EasyRecovery Professional, is far more expensive than R-Studio Data Recovery, which is tried and true and also supports Mac and Linux partitions. That said, HDD Recovery Pro works well and has probably the nicest interface in its field.

--Jon L. Jacobi